By Emory Waye, Managing Editor

Over the past few months, there have been several instances of cars crashing into the front of Mobile stores. The first being a car crashing into the front of a Lululemon store in August, and the second being a car crashing into the front of a Crumbl Cookie store just a few weeks ago. Upon further investigation, it seems this is not an isolated incident in Mobile, but this occurred in other states just days before the two Spring Hill incidents. 

On October 1, a car reportedly ran into the front of a Crumbl Cookie store in the Spring Hill area. Police responded to the scene and reported that the driver was not injured and the building did not suffer significant damage, other than the front doors being smashed in. According to the Mobile Police Department, the incident appeared to be accidental, as the woman driving the car failed to put the car in reverse, causing it to move forward through the parking space and into the doors. 

The store seems to still be operating despite the damage to the doors. Neither the driver nor any employees were injured. 

Oddly, just one week prior, on September 24th, the same incident occurred at a Crumbl Cookie store in Newtown, Pennsylvania. The driver of the Honda apparently “lost control” of the car, crashing into the front doors. 

These two seemingly unrelated but almost identical incidents occurring so close in time are odd, right? But what about the Lululemon stores? 

The Spring Hill Lululemon burglary was one of three known smash-and-grabs that have occurred in the Southeast. The smash-and-grabs occurred on August 21, in Atlanta, GA, August 23, in Mobile, AL, and September 30, in Greenville, SC. Police are investigating the connection between these three incidents. The rented vehicle used in the Greenville burglary was apparently rented from Atlanta, and then used in Greenville before being driven back to Griffin, GA and abandoned. 

About $5,000 worth of merchandise was taken from the store on Du Rhu Drive in Mobile. After crashing into the store and stealing the merchandise, the burglars fled the scene. 

No arrests have been made in the AL or GA cases. 29-year-old Donte Glenn was arrested after being found returning merchandise stolen from the Greenville store in Atlanta. He is not from Greenville and has ties to both Georgia and California. He was charged with:

• Burglary
• Conspiracy
• Malicious Damage ($93,538 in damage to the building)

While it seems as if these three incidents may be connected, police have not confirmed nor denied any connection between the cases, besides Glenn apparently renting the break-in vehicle from Atlanta. The investigation of the Spring Hill burglary is still ongoing. Whether these are pure coincidences or something else at work is up to public speculation.